Cafe Scientifique

Tuesday, November 12, 2013 at 6:30pm
to 8:00pm

The next Café Scientifique (Tuesday, November 12) will feature Professor Rebecca Flowers.

"Thermochronology evidence for an ancient (~70 Ma) Grand Canyon"
The Grand Canyon is one of the most dramatic and best-recognized landscapes on Earth, yet when and why the canyon was carved have been extraordinarily controversial since it was discovered more than 150 years ago. Apatite 4He/3He and (U-Th)/He thermochronology data can document the timing of canyon incision because of the unique sensitivity of these methods to temperature variations caused by topography in the shallow crust. Rocks cool as they approach the Earth’s surface by erosion, and apatite 4He/3He and (U-Th)/He data can record this cooling history. New thermochronology results for the Grand Canyon provide evidence that its western portion was carved to within a few hundred meters of modern depths by ~70 Ma. Nearby paleocanyons that intersect the Grand Canyon and are widely accepted to be of similarly ancient age document a larger canyon system of which the Grand Canyon would logically have been part. These results are inconsistent with the conventional model in which the entire canyon was carved in the last 5-6 Ma.

Also, the following Café will be on February 11 – Professor Brandon Vogt from the UCCS GES department:

Colorado's Lightning Climatology and Things You Don't Want to Know about the Region

Parking -- COMPLIMENTARY PARKING PROVIDED BY UCCS PARKING SERVICES for the November 12 event from 5:30-9:00 p.m. in any regular parking space in parking lots 3 and 4 located south of Centennial Hall and the University Center. Please note that all other parking restrictions (handicapped parking, loading zones, fire lanes) apply.

Funding for Café Scientifique at UCCS is provided by the UCCS Auxiliary Services Team